Swivel-sectioned building wall

ABSTRACT

A building wall formed of a number of swivelably mounted sections, normally arranged end-to-end to form a solid wall of monolithic appearance, with means for simultaneously swiveling the sections transversely to the plane of the wall about vertical axes for opening the entire wall.

' I United States Patent [151 3,645,053

Taggart 5] Feb. 29, 1972 1 [s41 SWIVEL-SECTIONED BUILDING WALL 2,262,124 11/1941 Truax ..49/82 [72] Inventor: George Taggafl, 2233 Holcomb No. 12, i et 49/82 Detroit Mich 48214 I 1 er 2,903,257 9/ 1959 Perrone ..49/82 [22] Filed: Feb. 9, 1970 5,591 7/1829 Adams ..52/64 [21] App1.No.: 9,605 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 435,661 10/1967 Switzerland ..49/82 [52] 11.8. CI ..52/65, 49/82, 49/371,

? 52/7 Primary Examineh-Henry C. Sutherland [51] Int. Cl. ..E04b 1/346, E051 17/00 Assistant Examiner-Leslie A. Brown [58] Field of Search ..52/64, 65, 71, 108;49/82, Attorney-Cullen, Sloman & Cantor 57] ABSTRACT [56] Rename; cued A building wall formed of a number of swivelably mounted UNITED STATES PATENTS sections, normally arranged end-to-end to form a solid wall of 1 monolithic appearance, with means for simultaneously swivel- Re22, 48 1 5/1944 Kaye ..52/314 ing the Sections transversely to the plane f the wall about 1041142 6/1 870 tical axes for opening the entire wall. 163,991 6/1875 2,206,478 7/ 1940 Hennessey ..52/64 1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures g am /2.

Ill/l/l/l Ill Patented Feb. 29, 1972 1 f A u L Z I, //////////n Llk\\\\\\ i1! Mm 727 FIGZ INVENTOR GEORGE TAGGART BY Cw, M

ATTORNEYS SWIVEL-SECTIONED BUILDING WALL BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Conventional building walls formed of masonry, brick, concrete and the like materials have normally been rigid and immovable. To the extent that openings through the walls have been desired, a variety of different types of doors have been provided, including pivoting types of doors. However, until now, there has been no wall construction wherein an entire, solid conventional wall may be opened up, without separate doorways, for passageway through the wall.

For certain types of wall constructions, such as the wall of a theater or school or large auditorium or the like, it is desirable to have the maximum available openings through the wall, particularly in the event of emergency. The use of a number of access doors has not been sufficient and adequate particularly since access doors require additional framing, result in heat losses, maintenance problems, etc. Thus, the invention herein is concerned with a conventional appearing building wall, but wherein the entire wall may be opened when desired, without the need for separate access doors. Such a wall construction is useful as the outer wall of a building, the inner wall dividing an auditorium portion of a building or the like, exterior masonry free standing walls, etc.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION The inventive concept herein relates to forming a large, solid, conventional appearing wall out of a number of substantially identical sections, abutted end to end, but with the sections being pivotable by a suitable mechanism so as to swing into planes transverse to the normal plane of the wall, thereby opening'up the entire wall for passageway.

For example, the invention contemplates forming wall sections out of a suitable metal frame-work with brick or other conventional facings, with each section pivotally mounted and arranged in end to end alignment so as to normally give the appearance of a monolithic, conventional wall structure. However, by means of a suitable operating mechanism, the sections may be pivoted out of the plane of the wall, thereby opening the entire wall.

An object of this invention is to provide such a wall formed of swingable or pivotal sections, wherein the means for mounting the wall sections may additionally serve-as load bearing structural members for the building, where desired, and wherein the overall wall construction is relatively inexpensive, particularly as compared to comparable walls with numerous access doors provided thereto.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following description, of-which the attached drawings form a part.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a portion of a building with the swivel sectioned building wall shown normally closed but also shown in dotted lines in opened position.

FIG. 2 is an elevational cross-sectional view of one wall section, and

FIG. 3 is an elevational end cross-sectional view of a section, taken in the direction of arrows 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view showing an operating mechanis r jjor pivoting or swiveling the sections.

FIG. 5 m fragmentary view showing the edge joint between adjacent sections.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 shows the swivel sectioned wall forming one wall of a building 11 having sidewalls 12. As illustrated in the Figure, the walls appear to be normal or conventional brick and masonry construction and give the appearance of a monolithic construction.

. The wall 10.is formed of a number of substantially identical sections 13, each arranged in edge to edge contact to form the solid wall.

Each section is formed of a frame-work comprising a central post 14 secured to a horizontal upper plate 15 and a horizontal lower plate 16 with side plates 17 joined thereto to form a rectangular frame. Struts 18 are connected to and extend between the post and side plates for rigidifying the frame.

The lower end of the post is formed as a pivot pin 19 which extends through a lower sill support plate 20 that extends along the full length of the wall and beneath the sections. The pin is engaged into a conventional thrust bearing 21.

The frame, and thus the entire section, is pivoted by a suitable mechanism which is illustrated as being formed of a lever 22 connected at one end to the pin 19 and connected by a conventional slot and pin connection 23 to a horizontal control rod 24 having one end formed as a rack 25 engaging a pinion 26 which is rotated by a suitable reversible electrical motor 27. Thus, operation of the motor 27 causes the control rod 24 to longitudinally move, thereby rotating through a prescribed arc the levers 22 to correspondingly rotate the pins 19 and causing the wall sections to swivel. Other suitable mechanisms may be adopted for this same purpose.

The upper end of the post is formed as an upper pivot pin 28 which fits into an upper structural member such as a jamb or joist support member 29 containing a thrust bearing 30 into which the pin is fitted. Thus, by means of the thrust bearing supports on opposite ends of the posts 14, the posts in effect become load bearing members which act as a structural support for the building. This is particularly useful where the wall is of great length and it is desired to avoid interior posts for supporting an upper floor or roof or upper story wall, etc. Hence, although the wall sections may be swiveled, they nevertheless function as load bearing members through the action of their respective posts.

Each section is faced on its opposite broad faces with a conventional construction material 31 such as courses of bricks and masonry, or stucco, concrete or other building materials. Likewise, the edges 32 of each section are similarly faced with a construction material facing 32.

However, in order to insure a weather-type joint between the respective sections when they are closed to form the monolithic wall, the adjacent section edges 33-34 are stepped slightly and trimmed with a sealing strip 35 such as rubberlike material. Thus, the wall when closed is weathertight and yet may be easily opened.

OPERATION Normally, the wall as shown in FIG. 1, as being a monolithic, conventional appearing wall structure. It may even be provided with doorways by piercing one or more sections and forming door frames herein. Where it is desired to open the wall, actuation of the control mechanism, that is, ac tuation of the motor 27, causes the links 22 to pivot the support pins 19 a sufficient distance to swivel the wall sections into positions transversely to the normal plane of the wall. Thus, the entire wall is rapidly opened completely for full passageway.

This construction thus is quite useful as an emergency exit in any building or room where large crowds are congregated.

The same wall construction may be used for a free standing wall or for a portion of a building wherein security protection may be needed during certain times, as for example, to close off an area at night.

Having fully described an operative embodiment of this invention, I now claim:

lclaim:

l. A solid planar, load bearing building wall which is substantially fully openable to provide emergency mass exit therethrough, comprising:

a lower, horizontally elongated wall supporting sill and an upper, horizontally elongated jarnb spaced above and coplanar with the sill to define the height and the length of the wall therebetween;

a number of substantially identical, flat, vertical wall sections arranged end to end in the plane of the sill and jamb,

with their adjacent vertical edges normally engaged together, and with each section extending the full height of the wall from the sill to the jamb, and the sections together forming the length of the wall, with the sections each faced with solid wall forming materials, such as brick, concrete and the like;

a vertical post centrally extending through and rigidly connected with each of the sections, and means pivotally connecting its upper end to the jamb and pivotally connecting its loser end to the sill, said means being formed to receive and transmit vertically directed loads from the jamb and to the sill, wherein the posts each form vertical 

1. A solid planar, load bearing building wall which is substantially fully openable to provide emergency mass exit therethrough, comprising: a lower, horizontally elongated wall supporting sill and an upper, horizontally elongated jamb spaced above and coplanar with the sill to define the height and the length of the wall therebetween; a number of substantially identical, flat, vertical wall sections arranged end to end in the plane of the sill and jamb, with their adjacent vertical edges normally engaged together, and with each section extending the full height of the wall from the sill to the jamb, and the sections together forming the length of the wall, with the sections each faced with solid wall forming materials, such as brick, concrete and the like; a vertical post centrally extending through and rigidly connected with each of the sections, and means pivotally connecting its upper end to the jamb and pivotally connecting its loser end to the sill, said means being formed to receive and transmit vertically directed loads from the jamb and to the sill, wherein the posts each form vertical load bearing columns, as well as vertical central pivots for their respective sections, wherein the sections are otherwise free of vertical load; means for swiveling the sections into planes transverse to the normal plane of the wall for thereby opening the wall; whereby when the sections are normally arranged coplanar, end to end, they form an unbroken, monolithic appearing, solid structural building wall, but when they are swiveled, the wall may be substantially fully opened for passage therethrough, along the length thereof. 